Google Refusing to Pay Publishers in France following the Implementation of the EU Copyright Directive

Google has opted out of paying publishers in France for news results in Google Search, an executive announced on September 25. France, which is the first country to implement Article 15 of the new European Union Copyright Directive nationally, had hoped that news publishers would benefit from the legislation allowing publishers to protect and license news content online, including snippets. Publishers in France were hoping to recoup some of the nearly €320 million they claim to lose to the duopoly each year. In response, Google has indicated that it will remove all snippets from search results, arguing that doing so would allow it to avoid licensing content under the Copyright Directive. Publishers who wish to allow previews without charge will be able to opt-out of the snippet removal and have their blurbs shown in the search results, forcing publishers to choose between protecting their content and not getting paid, a situation some have referred to as being “blackmailed.” Read more here.